Still not out

It's kind of sick. I'm still not up to the point that I was at after only 3 sessions on the 5th of the month.

Friday night was as soft as ever, but I just couldn't make any hands. I was overflushed for $150, forced off AK in a 4bet pot for $110, and had QQ vs AA in a weird blind vs. blind where an EP player limped, the SB limped, I raised, the EP player called, and the SB came over the top. I stacked off because the line was so fucking weird and because he only had $90, and sure enough he shows the AA.

Actually it's amazing I didn't lose more than I did. Players were butchering their hands left and right. One hand I raised QhKh from EP and the button called. Flop came 4TQ with the 4 of hearts. I bet, button called. Turn is the Jh, as it turns out the worse possible card in the deck for me. I now have TP2K, a strong straight draw, and the 2nd nut flush draw. I bet, prepared to come over the top of a raise in a strong semi as I can nicely rep AK and get random 2pairs to fold (and have good equity when they call). Instead the button calls again. The river is another T, for a board of 4TQJT with no flushes. I check, just praying to get to a cheap showdown but not sure what on earth I can beat (basically nothing; maybe villain shows up with JKs here from time to time). Villain checks, and to my shock shows an absolutely butchered AKo, having massacred every street except for preflop. How can he call the flop with only a gutshot (and overs, but dominated or reverse dominated so often it's not even funny), and then, more importantly, how can the motherfucker not raise the turn after such an unlikely hand got there? The failure to bet the river is also horrible (am I really checking a boat here?) but in this case didn't cost him as I'm not calling (with AA or KK though, I think it's a call, and means he missed ridiculous value against my range). Villain is a regular, too, but looking him up on tableratings* I see that he has played over 375k hands in the last several months and lost over $6k. I guess rakeback might cover that, but ouch. I see why he has so little success, lol.

The other one was just fucking hilarious. It's folded to the SB, an absolute whale who runs about 32/9 and tableratings has as having lost $11k in his last 15k hands (granted some of that was much deeper, probably an ordinary rich fish that likes to gamble), who completes. I have AQo and raise to $6. He calls. I should also mention that he'd been chatting with a spectator who was at his table, and who was apparently in a tournament with him.

Flop comes 459. He checks I check. Turn is a Q, he bets $8 and I call. River is another queen and he bets $16. I raised to $44. Absolutely mandatory imo as I squeeze out just a ton of value against this donkey with worse queens. I'm contemplating whether or not I call a shove, and thinking I probably do, because while he's certainly capable of having a boat here with 44, 55, or even 99 (less likely), this is the sort of donkey that's value-owning himself with KQ, QJ, and QT so much more. A player can't lose that much that quickly without having very little regard for hand values.

But then he starts chatting with his spectator friend, saying "check out this call. I'm going to lose because he has 5's full." He calls and shows 44, which I knew as soon as he said what he did. I was totally about to stack off and if he'd raised when he should have, he would have erased a larger portion of his massive downswing.

Not much more going on. Still relatively breakeven for the past week or so.